The point of life/living

When I click on one of the old threads and happen upon a guy named “snowcity”, I see echoes of this thread. Or, I guess, this thread is the echo. It could be that the idea of being disturbed by our inability to know what’s real is pervasive and more than one person has come here to delve into that. Or…

I think you’re missing the point of what I said, the point I’m getting at there is that when I hear people saying something “make me feel” or if I think that, then mentally I immediately go “that’s wrong” and just…shut down. I haven’t been able to stop it. When I try to tell myself that things make me feel my brain just goes to “no, you’re just creating those feelings with your imagination when that thing comes up”. Or to put it another way “you’re just making everything up”. Or that it’s just some social “agreement” that such a thing means that.

That it means I’m not really connecting with or feeling with anything.

The same goes when I think about making someone happy and then immediately shoot that down as false.

It’s not so much that so much that I don’t know what to make of my emotions now after reading that. I know I’ve said I’ve tried to logic and fight it, but it feels like the more I fight it the deeper I sink into it until I feel like I’m ending up proving it right.

Maybe you are trying too hard.
Sometimes it’s good to back off a little.
Try to be in the moment, simply for its own sake.

I’ve already tried that and I explained why that hasn’t helped.

He’s tried everything, including not trying as hard. He’s really got it covered.

This is why I suggested to listen to music via headphones. It allows total immersion when closing your eyes and forcing the brain to focus its attention on “sound” as the primary input.

But our friend seems to reject any and all suggestions as “futile”.

I did try hard, it didn’t work out. Sorry you can’t see that.

I’ve been trying that but it doesn’t work. As soon as I start to feel anything it shuts down because “things don’t make you feel”.

What shuts down? Do you turn off the music, or do you stop listeneing, or what else can be shut down? In fact, I don’t believe that what happens falls under “shutting down” , but under “conscious resistance”.

You must try to allow your system to become accustomed to the experience of consecutive harmonic placement of agreeable sound waves.
All "experience is a result of “cognition”. Allow your memory to gather information, so that you can “recognize” it when something familiar takes place.

That little Pat Metheny clip I referred to cannot possibly cause discomfort.
Listen to it again and again. Good music tends to become more beautiful with recognition and discovery of new nuances, like a subtle thrill that describes an emotion. The moment when the harmonica takes over, it releases an emotional cognitive experience, that alway causes me to weep from the sheer emotional impact . In musical composition it is called “tension and release”.

This is why some classical compositions have survived the test of time.
The collection of logical transition of resonant sound waves are recognizable by the brain and the result is “pleasant” or “exciting”.
But in the case of dissonance, the result can be unpleasant or even disturbing.

Even animals respond to pleasant music

what goes on in that enormous brain when it hears this beautufil composition?

My emotions. Are you reading? I said that my emotions shut down anytime I believe something makes me feel anything because the guy said it was wrong.

Now I’m all fragile, my emotions muted, and it feels like a battle to just try to feel anythinga t all anymore.

It actually did because, and this is a shock, I didn’t like it. Not everyone likes the same music no matter what you think.

Not really, every era has it’s bad music, you’re just listening to the hits of the period. What is “good” music is subjective.

Nope.

Maybe don’t project your notions onto animals.

You know that reminded me of a book I managed to read (er, listen to) a little bit of, it might be just the thing, if you’re into experimenting.


(source)

Just what is it?

Famously, The Book of Disquiet is an incomplete work, composed of 500-some fragments that were not even published until 1982, decades after Pessoa’s death in 1935.

The Modernist master Fernando Pessoa’s work remained largely unnoticed during his lifetime. He left behind a chest full of writing that would be later known to many as The Book of Disquiet.

The book has been deemed an “autobiography” and a “diary,” but it’s equally a novel or an essay collection or even a kind of pre-internet codex blog.

Pessoa ruminates about pretty much everything, often entering enlightening and sorrowful spaces while battling life’s eternal questions. Recently released by New Directions with a brand new translation, The Book of Disquiet is in its most complete form ever.

It’s not the destination, it’s the journey that matters.

1 Like

No it is not

There are agreeable soud waves and disagreeable soundwaves. Thats why we terms like resonance and dissonance.

But there is lack of knowledge of about composition and invention that make “good” music. When you lack that knowledge, you cannot judge or appreciate “good” music.

Not at all related to what I’m talking about.

Yea it is, nothing you say changes that.

Again, demonstrably false. You don’t need knowledge to appreciate “good” music, just ears. What is considered good music, or even just music, is purely subjective.

Even resonance and dissonance is subjective. In fact it’s sometimes based on the culture we grew up in among other things.

Lots of people don’t like your so called “good” music. You’re just projecting your tastes onto the world.

We kinda covered some of this

How do you know?

I would think Pessoa would be relatable by you, or at least sympathetic to the human struggling with an incompressible world.

Yipes, that raises a question: Do you know what sympathy feels like?

On another tangent, I wonder have you always been like this?
Rejecting everything within seconds of hearing about it?

No wonder you are living in your own little agony, it sure ain’t a passion play.

Write, here’s my latest earworm - I have simpler tastes.

:clinking_glasses:

'73 it was a very good year

The music is very agreeable albeit very simple. I like the underlying melody (music)
I seldom listen to lyrics, because they address a different aspect of art (poetry).

All by all I liked it. But it ain’t Mozart and that’s ok.

Interesting tidbit, Metheny uses a lot of vocals but without lyrics. He uses the voice as another instrument and it is absolutely beautiful.

When it’s not relevant to my question then yes. Also the world isn’t incomprehensible, maybe the dude was just bad at it. I don’t feel that way. But again that’s not related to my point here which you keep missing.

It’s not always poetry, sometimes it’s just about what sounds right and how you say it.

But like was said, music is subjective. There is no “good” music, it’s just whatever folks like.

Then it is not ART.

This is my personal slogan: “Art is the creation of that which evokes an emotional response leading to thoughts of the noblest kind.” (W4U)

By that definition nothing would be art, way too narrow

What you are saying is that a Coca Cola sign is Art, whereas it is no more than a clever advertisement.

Yes, true Art is rare and to be appreciated.

True Art is exactly what I posited above. It has to mean something, else it is meaningless.

“Natura Artis Magistra” (Nature is the Teacher of Art) .

Problem because you keep pointing at your “point” but never try redefining.
I haven’t clue what your point is - other than perhaps life is meaningless; I have no feelings whatsoever; and oh woe is me! ; and everyone else is wrong about everything.

So what is your point?

Mind defining it for the slow ones out there, like me.
:v: :slightly_smiling_face: